Kollam (Quilon, Kerala) Fish Curry

Here is another fish curry recipe from Kerala. This one was made by me after watching the recipe the previous day on the TV in a Malayalam Channel. It was cooked by a house-wife from Kollam for the TV channel. So I guess this is an authentic recipe of the area. This is a speciality of Kollam (Quilon) District in Kerala and you have to try it with the large pearl spot fishes that you get over there. I was trying it for the first time and it came out quite well.

Ingredients

• Fish - Pearl spot (Karimeen) - 2 large ones. Since I did not have any stock of pearl spot fish at home, I used a fish called Kolaan (Long billed half beak). You should be able to use any other fish like seer fish, pomfret etc. and get a similar result.

Masala for frying the fish

• 1 tablespoon of coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
• ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon of red chilly powder
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper powder
• Salt and water as required

Ingredients for the gravy

• 4 tablespoons of oil
• 2 sprigs of curry leaf
• 2 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 1 cup of shallots crushed
• 1" piece of ginger cut into juliennes and then crushed
• 15-20 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 large onions thinly sliced
• 1 large tomato cut into 8 pieces lengthwise (cut the tomato into two and then cut the two halves into two and then cut into two the four quarters)
• ½ teaspoon of red Kashmiri chilly powder
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper powder
• ¼ teaspoon of fenugreek powder
• 1½ tablespoons of coriander powder
• 2 cups of coconut milk (first extract)
• 3-4 pieces of kudampuli (Malabar Tamarind)
• Salt as required

Method

• Clean the fish and make gashes across its length on either sides.
• Make a paste of the above masala (masala for frying the fish) by adding a little water and apply this paste liberally over the fish and set aside the fish for 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator
• Take a large pan and add the cooking oil
• Once the oil is hot, shallow fry the fish on both the sides, until they are half-cooked (2-3 minutes per side on medium heat would do)
• Remove and drain the fish
• To the same pan and oil add the crushed garlic and ginger. Sauté the ginger and garlic.
• Add the crushed shallots and sauté them till the raw smell goes away
• Add the sliced onions and sauté them till the onions turn translucent
• Add the tomato pieces and the slit green chillies
• Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilly powder, black pepper powder, fenugreek powder. Sauté for a couple of minutes
• Add the coconut milk, the curry leaf and the Malabar Tamarinds. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the flame to a simmer
• Add salt as required
• Add the fish pieces. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Flip the fishes once without breaking them apart.

Let the dish stand for 2 hours and then use it along with rice/naan etc.

This dish should have a thick coconut gravy with the taste dominated by coriander and black pepper.